Deathbed conversion

A deathbed conversion is a sudden change in a person's beliefs late in their life, possibly during a terminal illness. This change is usually to Christianity from some other belief system or atheism.

Apologists occasionally use deathbed conversion stories of many atheists and humanists to illustrate the importance of accepting Christianity before death. Many, if not all, of these conversion stories are myths.

Examples

Charles Darwin - Many tracts and sermons have included a story of Charles Darwin's deathbed conversion, but there is no evidence to support this. The "Lady Hope" story, in which a well-meaning woman is asked to sit in with the ailing Darwin during his last days, was published in a Baptist newspaper in 1915. Darwin's family denied the story.

Carl Sagan - "Contrary to the fantasies of the fundamentalists, there was no deathbed conversion, no last minute refuge taken in a comforting vision of a heaven or an afterlife. For Carl, what mattered most was what was true, not merely what would make us feel better. Even at this moment when anyone would be forgiven for turning away from the reality of our situation, Carl was unflinching. As we looked deeply into each other's eyes, it was with a shared conviction that our wondrous life together was ending forever." - Ann Druyan, Epilogue to Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium